Swat, Bajaur IDPs face bleak future

The presence of such huge number of internally-displaced persons is obviously a burden for the already shrinking infrastructure.

More than 43,500 refugees from Swat and Bajaur Agency have sought shelter in the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad. Despite this situation, the federal government has refused to establish refugee camps for them.
Sources in the Ministry of States and Frontier Region (Safron) says that 36,000 internally-displaced persons (IDPs) were residing in Rawalpindi and 7,500 in the federal capital.
Rawalpindi remains on top among the cities in Punjab in terms of displaced people.
Sources said the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) had recently conducted a detailed survey in which it had found that the number of IDPs in Rawalpindi and Islamabad had reached over 43,500.
The government has provided no facility to the displaced children who are growing up without having any access to education. These children are exposed to every kind of exploitation.
A highly-placed official source in the ministry told this reporter that the UNHCR and Safron had formally suggested the National Disaster Management Cell (NDMC) to establish refugee camps for the IDPs in Rawalpindi but it refused to do so.
‘The federal government does not want to set up camps for the IDPs in any province except in the NWFP owing to security concerns. We fear a very dark future for these children,’ the source added.
He said majority of the children were orphans as they had lost their parents during the operation in their areas and were living with relatives in the twin cities, adding that their relatives might not look after them for long.
‘I think there is a need to enroll these children in schools or at least persuade them to return to the NWFP where UNHCR has established camps for them. The IDPs are scared and are not willing to return to their native villages,’ another source said.
The presence of such a huge number of IDPs in the twin cities without any permanent arrangement for their food and shelter is an eye-opener for NGOs and other charity organisations that trumpet humanity and claim to be advocates of people’s rights.
The inability of the government to reconstruct damaged houses of IDPs in Swat and Bajaur Agency has resulted in increased influx of these people to the twin cities and other districts of Punjab.
Dr Farzana, a social worker in Rawalpindi, says: ‘A child who wanders in the streets throughout the day without knowing about school or without care. Such a child would turn against society when he grows up. I see every such child as a potential terrorist.’
One can see these children in the streets of Rawalpindi begging for clothes and food and are adding to the already prevailing menace of beggary. The city district government has not announced a single plan to facilitate these homeless people.
The presence of such huge number of IDPs is obviously a burden for the already shrinking infrastructure of the city where housing shortage, water scarcity and other problems are aggravating.